SOURCE: NICHOLAS IBEKWE-PREMIUM TIMES
More than half of the N171.32 billion ($1.1 billion) paid to Malabu Oil and Gas for the procurement of one of
Nigeria’s richest oil fields, OPL 245 by Shell and
Eni was used to bribe Nigerian politicians and
intermediaries who helped to secure the
controversial deal, Reuters is reporting.
According to a letter seeking the help of UK’s
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to freeze the
assets of those involved, Italian prosecutors said
some of the N83 billion ($533 million) slush
money was used to buy private jets and armored
vehicles.
“We are investigating many money transfers to
many people in various countries who received
sums that vary from millions of dollars to
thousands of dollars,” Reuters claimed the letter
reads.


British prosecutors acting on the request have
already frozen two accounts with combined sum
of N29.5 billion ($190 million) belonging to the
chief intermediary, Emeka Obi.
Former oil minister, who was convicted for
money laundering in France, Dan Etete, owns
Malabu Oil and Gas. The company was
incorporated five days before the oil block was
awarded to it in 1998 during the regime of
military dictator, Sani Abacha.
While trying to cover his link with the company,
Mr. Etete registered the company with a fictitious
director, Kweku Amafegha. The company also
listed a fake address in registration documents.
Mr. Etete confessed to a British court in 2013
that former President, Olusegun Obasanjo,
demanded a slice of the oil block as bribe.
The Federal Government acted as a conduit for
the fund after Shell and Eni raised concerns over
transferring the money directly to Malabu due to
Mr Etete’s conviction.
PREMIUM TIMES investigation revealed that
after the money was paid to the Federal
Government account, it transferred N120 billion
($801 million) to Malabu’s account.
The Attorney General of the Federation,
Mohammed Adoke, and Minister of State for
Finance, Yerima Ngama, authorized the transfers.
The company subsequently transferred the
money to shady companies with fake addresses.
Despite overwhelming evidences showing that
Shell and Eni are aware that the money would be
paid to a character with a shady background,
officials of the companies have denied any wrong
doing in the affair.
For instance prosecutors said that a senior
official of Shell had a face-to-face meeting with
Mr. Etete over expensive “lunch and lots of iced
champagne” few moths before the money was
transferred to the Nigerian government.
An email presented during the trial also
mentioned that the Shell official who feted with
Mr Etete would refer to someone in The Hague
known as “Peter” over the terms of the deal.
Curiously, Shell’s CEO is named Peter Voser.
The Italian prosecutors are investigating the role
of Eni’s former CEO, Paola Scaroni and his
successor Claudio Descalzi, for alleged
international corruption over the scandal.

Link: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/168992-malabu-oil-deal-corrupt-nigerian-officials-bought-private-jets-armoured-cars-with-n83-billion-bribe.html

am not surprise our leaders have been exploiting and milking this country from time immemorial